“We are taking off here on the bus here at 2
o’clock, first one, play a little football at the University
of Central Oklahoma and we welcome all y’all to
attend.”

What are the plans with the quarterbacks?

“I plan to play them both. But right now Kellen Cox will
be starting first and then Kyle Webster will come in and they will
probably equally play before the game is over. Both of them will
play.

Is that a decision you made a while ago or is that recent?

“Recent, we let them compete for it when we got back to
camp, here when two-a-days started and just throughout camp, they
were really neck and neck and either one could go, but Kellen edged
him out and we decided to go with him, but really in a sense, they
are our starting quarterbacks.”

What do you think they bring differently to the table?

“One has a little more experience at another position,
kind of has a broader base of understanding, which is Kellen, being
that he played slot receiver here for a couple of years and ran the
option style offense in high school. Kyle came from a higher
level of football where he has seen a little different venue of
football, but both of them are very good throwers, runners, very
tough kids, sharp, they are very much alike. I can’t
really say one is better than the other at this, but they are very
similar in styles, but they are excellent quarterbacks.

Is there a particular time in the game that Kyle is going to
come in?

“No, we will wait and see how it goes.”

How have injuries affected the offensive line?

“They have, we have several that were not able to go
early. I think there were five that were not able to practice in
the first seven or eight practices. After that time, I think we
have three of them back and we have another one who will be back in
a couple weeks and another one left the team.”

How has the team been adjusting the new option style
offense?

“It looks like very good, but we’ll find out here
tomorrow night. We haven’t been able to scrimmage, because of
our injuries, so we have a lot of question marks exactly what we
are as well, but the execution looks well, but of course you are
always worried about penalties in your first game and
turnovers. If we don’t make those mistakes, we should
be pretty productive as far as how we run our offense. Just
excited to see what we are.

What are your emotions going into your first game as a head
coach?

“Very excited! You know people have had a lot of questions
about the NFL, but there wasn’t any game I felt more excited
about last year than this one right here. You come in and get
vested and you vested by coming in and putting in work, by
committing yourself to kids and seeing those kids develop and you
want to get your payday on gameday.”

With your triple option, will you be running with several
running backs or exactly how will that work?

“We will be substituting guys in and we got some young
guys that are going to play too and just depending on how the game
goes and where we are in the game, how much they get to play, but
it is an offense that spreads the wealth. You are not going
to have one superstar in that offense, there are going to be a
bunch of superstars in that offense if it is productive which we
hope it is.”

How is the defense coming along?

“Very good. We are an attacking style defense and going to
be very multiple with what we do, but the biggest thing, but the
biggest thing we are going to hang our hats on is our ability to
tackle and we are going to keep things in front of us and make
people execute.”

Landon Zerkel, Sr. Wide Receiver

Q: Let’s talk about the offense, it is a totally different
scheme, a lot has been made of the running game, and going
old-school, how has that affected you guys?

A: “It is exciting for me. It takes me back to high
school, run first is what we did at Webb City. I am excited to see
what we can do with these new guys, and this new coaching staff,
and start off fresh.”

Q: Are you more of a wide blocker now?

A: “Yeah, I’ll do a lot more blocking, but we have a
pretty good team since this year and everybody knows they got to do
their part to get wins, so we are excited for that.”

Q: What is the difference between senior quarterback Kellen Cox
and junior quarterback Kyle Webster?

A: “They are both really great quarterbacks. They
both had really good camps I thought. I do not see much of a
difference as far as they are both aggressive and they are both
great competitors and they want to win and that is what we need in
a quarterback.”

Q: Do you see a big difference in team attitude from this year
to last year?

A: “Definitely, with all the new guys, it is a whole new
atmosphere, so as a returner, we want to give these guys all the
excitement we had when we came here. Getting this new
attitude started has been a great thing.”

Q: What have you told the new guys about the MIAA
Conference?

A: “It is one of the toughest conferences as far as I am
concerned and get ready week in, week out to give everything you
have on the field.”

Alex Wong, Sr. Linebacker

Q: Could you talk about the excitement for the opener on
Thursday?

A: “Very excited! This time of the year is always very
special for a college football player so we are very excited about
the opportunity that lies ahead of us.”

Q: Are there major changes in defense from what you played last
year?

A: “Not too many. All the concepts stayed the same,
still 11-on-11 football, tackle and block well, make sure you are
in your right areas, it is pretty similar in that sense.”

Q: What is the difference in team attitude from last year to
this year?

A: “We are very enthusiastic, that’s for sure. We
come to work everyday and nobody is complaining about what we have
to do, so we are pretty excited about what we have in front of
us.”

Q: “Are you guys more excited than your head coach, Daryl
Daye, to play tomorrow at Central Oklahoma?

A: “Of course! You only get so many games in your
college career so you want to maximize every opportunity that you
have.”

Q: How many new starters do you have on defense and has that
been tough to get to everyone?

A: No, we actually have a lot in common. We have some kids from
Florida, Louisiana, but we all actually get along really well,
because we all came here for the same reason and that is to
win.

Q: How hard has that been preparing for UCO with a new coaching
staff and offense?

A: “You have to prepare for many things. If they come out
in shotgun, under center, the principles all the stay the same,
they all carry over week-to-week, so you just have to be confident
in your abilities and if the coaches tell you to do one thing, you
just have to follow suit and everything will take care of
itself.

Q: Can you talk about leadership on this team? A lot of
new guys, you have to find leadership somewhere, talk about that as
you prepare for tomorrow night?

A: “Well it is definitely a lot of the upperclassmen,
whenever you are in practice, there are always those group of guys
that need to bring it together for everybody else to
follow.”

Q: Can you think back a year ago to the first game, what would
be the differences in preparedness from a year ago for the first
game?

A: Well I am a year older, so that always helps, you always have
more games under your belt so experience is always a good thing. I
hope a lot of the upperclassmen can spread that to the younger guys
too.”

Q: What about just as a team in general?

A: “We are just excited for what we have tomorrow, to
start off the season right.”